Man forges air ticket to search for lost phone at airport

The accused – identified as Noor Alam Mohammed Qayyum Sheikh – had a ticket for the Vistara Airlines flight UK950 flying from Mumbai to New Delhi scheduled to take off at 9.55pm on Sunday

Mumbai: A 37-year-old man was booked after he was caught at the airport with a fake flight ticket which he allegedly forged to search for his phone that he had purportedly lost inside the airport last week.

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The accused – identified as Noor Alam Mohammed Qayyum Sheikh – had a ticket for the Vistara Airlines flight UK950 flying from Mumbai to New Delhi scheduled to take off at 9.55pm on Sunday, said an officer from Sahar Police Station, adding, “When he showed the ticket to an agent, he got suspicious and alerted the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel. The accused was found to have a ticket number that was not issued for the flight.”

“When officials at the airport asked him about the ticket, he told them that he had taken the same flight a week ago. His mobile phone was lost at the airport during this journey. Since he was in a rush to catch the flight, he could not register a complaint about the lost phone,” added that officer..” The accused intended to get into the same departure area and request the authorities to let him look at the CCTV footage from last week.”

Police said that he was able to enter the airport by showing the fake ticket, which he had made by editing the soft copy of his ticket from last week, however, instead of going to the boarding gate, he went to the departures section where an airline official checked his ticket.

“Seeing that the issuing number on the ticket didn’t match with any of the tickets booked on the flight he was supposed to take, the official took the accused to the control room for questioning. After learning of the situation, they brought him to Sahar Police Station,” said the officer.

During the investigation, the police called upon the family of the accused. “We learnt from them that the accused had been very upset after having lost his job a couple of months ago. They told us that he had done some other strange things in public places, including restaurants,” said the officer.

The accused was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating and forgery. He was produced in court on Tuesday and was sent to judicial custody.